Gasoline returns below $4 a gallon in some parts of the United States

Oil tankers ask the White House for relief in tensions 0:57 (CNN Business) –– Gasoline prices below US $ 4 a gallon have returned, at least in some places in the United States. Nearly one in five gas stations is charging less than $4 a gallon for regular fuel, according to OPIS, which surveys US gas stations to calculate average prices for the American Automobile Association (AAA). acronym in English). That proportion represents about 24,000 gas stations across the country, mostly in the Southeast and in oil states like Texas and Oklahoma. In fact, $3,999 was the most common price this Monday among the 130,000 stations OPIS surveyed, as gas station owners play a game of charging a tenth of a cent under $4 to get the attention of consumers. the clients. “Hardly anyone lowers their price to $4,009, although it’s not much different,” said Tom Kloza, global head of energy research at OPIS. However, the national average tracked by AAA remains well above that mark, at $4.52 a gallon. And all 50 states see an average price of more than $4, with South Carolina scoring the lowest average at $4.02. The average price of gasoline has decreased In addition, Kloza warned that drivers should not assume that gasoline prices will continue to fall from now on. “This is more of an intermission,” he said. Overall, the national average gas price is down 10%, or 50 cents, since hitting an all-time high of $5.02 a gallon seven weeks ago. This is the biggest percentage drop since the market slumped in early 2020, when stay-at-home orders at the start of the pandemic caused gasoline use to plummet and crude oil prices briefly turned negative. The reason? Oil prices fell again. Concerns about a possible global recession affecting oil demand is a major factor driving oil and gasoline futures lower. In fact, Brent oil futures fell 20% from the beginning of June to last Friday’s close. But those futures were slightly higher on Monday. A lack of commitments from Saudi Arabia to increase oil production following President Joe Biden’s visit last week, coupled with a slight easing of recession fears on stronger-than-expected bank earnings, helped lift prices. future prices. A regional phenomenon Meanwhile, gasoline below $4 a gallon remains a regional phenomenon. On June 14, when the national average gas price hit a record $5.02 a gallon, only a few dozen stations nationwide were charging less than $4. But now in two states, Carolina South and Texas, 61% of gas stations sell fuel for less than $4 a gallon. And more than half of the stations in Georgia and Mississippi are selling gasoline below that benchmark. In seven other states––Louisiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and North Carolina––more than a quarter of stations have prices below $4. inflated because some stations sell fuel at prices well above the local market price, and even a handful of stations with high prices can unduly affect the average. For example, imagine that nine stations sell gasoline for $3.99 a gallon and a single station sells for $4.25. The average of those ten stations would still be US$4.02. At the other extreme, in half the states in the country—including most of the Northeast and West Coasts, along with Alaska, Hawaii, and the city of Washington—gasoline costs less than $4 a gallon for just 1% or less of stations. In California, which has the highest statewide average at $5.90 a gallon, there are virtually no stations that sell gasoline for less than $5 a gallon.